


Osemanverse Hogwarts AU

by thedankmemeatthedisco



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Heartstopper (Webcomic), Osemanverse, Radio Silence - Alice Oseman, Solitaire - Alice Oseman
Genre: Also some random cameos of the unofficial Heartstopper Discord, F/F, F/M, Featuring: the flashmob, Hogwarts AU, M/M, Radio Silence Spoilers, Solitaire Spoilers, TW: Some descriptions of mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-07-15 05:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16056656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedankmemeatthedisco/pseuds/thedankmemeatthedisco
Summary: A Hogwarts AU of many Osemanverse characters from the perspectives of Charlie, Nick, Tori and Frances. Charlie and Nick explore a new part of their relationship as Nick begins to come out to his friends and family, Tori tries to find her place in her relationship with Michael whilst helping her friend Becky in her own relationship and Frances reflects on her friendships and her lack of romantic connections.





	1. SEPTEMBER

CHARLIE

I didn’t intend at the start of the day to end up making out with the Gryffindor Quidditch captain in a broom cupboard on the third floor, but as Nick’s arms slid further around my waist, I couldn’t say I didn’t want to be here. Though, to be fair, I don’t know what I’d expected when Nick said he’d wanted to discuss “prefect Quidditch stuff” in a broom cupboard. We’d been going out since the summer and Nick was constantly dragging me off to kiss him as often as he could.

However, since the start of this year there had been less secret cupboard sessions; I was now a Slytherin prefect and had my OWLs this year, and he was Quidditch captain, but we still fit in time to meet up. This had to be in secret, however, as people would throw a fit if they knew a Slytherin and a Gryffindor were going out, let alone the prefect and Quidditch captain - and also because no one knew Nick was bisexual.

Nick and I met while playing Quidditch - I was the seeker and Nick had managed to knock me out when throwing a Quaffle to his teammate. He’d felt so bad afterwards that he came to see me in the hospital wing with a hand-written card, but I was still out cold, so he kept visiting until I’d woken up.

After I’d properly met him, we started to hang out, me helping him in the library with History of Magic homework (which I loved but he thought was a waste of time). Other than Quidditch, Nick’s biggest passion was Care of Magical Creatures - he had a crup at home called Nellie who was probably the most adorable thing I had ever seen.

A few times he’d dragged me down to Hagrid’s hut to meet some new creature that Hagrid had shown him in a lesson. My favourite time had been the time he showed me one of the unicorns from the Forbidden Forest a few weeks before we began going out. According to him, unicorns tended to trust girls more than boys to pet them but that didn’t stop them from loving Nick, like every other magical creature did.

“Charlie, come on!” he said, gently stroking the mane of the animal. I stood back and shook my head stiffly.

“No. I don’t think it likes or trusts me and it has a massive horn.”

He rolled his eyes at me and grabbed my hand to pull me over to where he’d been standing, but didn’t let go of it, instead guiding me to stroking the unicorn’s mane myself. I was terrified but didn’t move away, staring at his face. Nick hesitantly moved his hand off mine to soothe the animal who could probably sense that I was uncomfortable, and was getting agitated. He glanced over at me with the most endearing grin as he brushed something out of the horse’s mane and for a second I wanted to lean over and kiss him until the unicorn suddenly shook its head and trotted away and Nick’s face fell.

“See! It doesn’t like me!” I said and Nick playfully shoved me.

“That’s not possible!”

“For someone not to like me? That is _such_ a lie!”

He blushed. “No it isn’t. You’re like… the most likeable person ever.”

“Shut up!” There was a short awkward silence where I just looked at him. “Come on, let’s go back to the castle.”  

How we’d actually got together was more complicated - my ex-boyfriend Ben had been giving me shit for hanging out with a Gryffindor for a few weeks but one day in July he’d dragged me into a classroom to talk to me about it.

“Charlie, what the _fuck_ are you doing talking to Nicholas fucking Nelson?” he shouted, slamming the door behind him. “He’s the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, of all people. Have some self respect!”

“Ben, I don’t give a shit what you think. Nick’s my friend.”

He tried to approach me at the desk I was sitting on top of but I got up and moved backwards. “We broke up in March. I’m not interested in you anymore, so drop it and go make out with the next girl who’s desperate to throw herself on you.”

I turned away and tried to get to the door, but Ben blocked my path and grabbed my arms. I tried to wrench them away but he kept holding on. “Why the fuck do you even care about him, anyway? He’s just like every other Gryffindor lad.” His eyes widened. “No, you don’t fancy him, do you? That’s fucking lame, even for you.”

“So what if I like him? He actually cares about my feelings, unlike you! Whatever our relationship was, it was always on your terms, making out when and where you wanted. I could be anyone and you wouldn’t care.”

“Charlie, that’s not true.”

I tried to pull away again but he held on tighter before shoving me against the wall, kissing me. I shouted and struggled, tears flowing from my eyes but he kept his lips on mine until someone burst through the door and rammed Ben onto the floor.

“Get off him, you fucking prick!”

I wiped my tears away to see Nick standing over Ben, looking livid. He attempted to push past Nick but he picked him up by the collar of his robes and threw him out of the classroom.

Nick turned to me “Are you alright?” My eyes were still streaming.

“Shit — yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“Sure? I heard what went down, that sounded pretty fucked up.”

 _Shit._ He’d heard everything. “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

“You can talk to me about this, if you want.” Nick patted me on the shoulder and gave me a heart-stopping smile. “But I understand if you don’t want to yet.”

“Not yet, but… thanks. For everything.”

“It’s fine. See you around, yeah?” He grinned again and turned to leave.

It was a few days later when I saw him again after Quidditch practice, leaning against a wall with his hands in his pockets of his robes.

“Hey,” The wind gently tousled Nick’s soft blonde hair. “How are you doing?”

“I’m alright, I mean, I’m… better,” I replied, and he tilted his head to one side. “I haven’t spoken to Ben, and I’m not going to. He’s a dick.”

“Do you want to talk about it now?”

For some reason, probably because he was giving me the most adorable smile I’d ever seen, I told him all about what happened with Ben and in the classroom before he got there, leaving out that my hopeless crush on Nick was the whole reason for this mess. Nick’s eyebrows got further and further up his face. When I finally finished explaining, he blinked in stunned silence. “Jesus _fucking_ Christ! I want to punch that arsehole in the face, what a dickhead. I’m glad I got there when I did.”

“Thanks for being there though.”

“In the classroom or in general?”

“Both.”

“Not a problem.”

I gave him a shy grin, imagining saying everything I thought: _Your help meant everything to me, I love hanging out with you_ , or just reaching out to him and kissing him.

“Hey, um, I didn’t mean to but I kind of heard your conversation with Ben? About me?”

 _Oh fuck,_ I thought, but just nodded awkwardly.

“And er, do – do you have a crush on me or something?”

This was it. I’d fucked up my chances with the best friend I’d ever had because of my inability to not fall for cute boys who are nice to me. He was just a straight boy who’d feel awkward, and hate me, and there would be nothing I could do. “Shit, um, yeah I – I do, I’m sorry – you don’t have to be friends with me anymore, I’m just so sorry-”

“Charlie,” he said, but I continued to ramble while staring at the floor until he took my hand. “You haven’t ruined anything.”

Then he leaned in and kissed me.

It wasn’t long before we kissed again and talked about us, and identities, and coming out, sitting under a tree next to the lake. He wasn’t ready to come out nor was he even sure how he felt, but we were boyfriends and still each other’s best friends.

“Charlie?” Back in the cupboard, Nick pulled away and stared into my eyes. “So you know how I was thinking about coming out this year?” Over the summer holidays, Nick had come out to his mum and brother and luckily his mum accepted him but his brother said he was just covering up being gay. Despite this, Nick had decided that he was going to come out this year. I was already out as gay since a (now ex) friend had spread it in my fourth year, but most people accepted it by now.

“That’d be amazing, if you want to,” I replied. “Don’t feel you have to come out because I have, I’m cool with keeping this secret until you’re ready.”

He smiled and my knees shook slightly. “I think I am. And I think I know when I want to do it.”

“When?”

“Well, er, Charlie Spring,” He took both my hands and his voice took a more solemn tone. “Would you do me the honour of going to the Winter Ball with me?”

Nick stared into my eyes for a few seconds before I leaned forward and kissed him. “Of course, I’d love to,” I said with his face in my hands. His face lit up, _god he’s so adorable_ , and we kissed again, until suddenly the cupboard door opened.


	2. NICK

Charlie and I drew apart as the door swung open to reveal two sixth year Gryffindor girls, one with black curly hair and the other slightly taller and blonde with dark prominent eyebrows. Their hands were touching slightly, and they looked shocked to see us.

“Tara?” I said, staring from her to the other girl. Tara Jones was a fellow Quidditch team member, who I’d had a crush on and kissed in third year, but now was only friends with.

“Nick? Why are you hiding in a cupboard with a Slytherin Prefect?” She looked at both of us and raised her eyebrows. 

The blonde looked from me to Charlie then gripped Tara’s arm, her brown eyes wide.

“Tara...we’ve found other ones!” 

“Other ones?” Charlie said, fixing them with an icy stare. “Also, no offence, but who are you?”

“It’s fine. I’m Tara and I’m a Gryffindor Chaser and this is my girlfriend, Darcy. And she didn’t mean to be rude. She means…” Tara glanced to either side of her. “Other gays. I knew we couldn’t be the only ones, I think there’s two on the Quidditch team, and we knew about Charlie from last year but it’s great to find others like us. How long have you been together?”

“We’ve been boyfriends since June.” It still felt amazing to say  _ boyfriend _ . “But I’m not out to many people yet, so don’t tell anyone.” Their faces lit up as I blushed and smiled awkwardly. True mlm/wlw solidarity.

“You are legit so  _ adorable. _ ” Darcy said. She had her arm resting on Tara’s shoulder, shirt sticking out from her skirt and red and yellow tie loose and crooked.  “Tara and I have either been going out three or four months, depending on who you ask”

Tara looked indignant and shoved Darcy off her. “Hey, shut up. It’s not my fault you never told me you liked me, how was I supposed to know?”

“Because we kissed? Like 6 times?” She smirked and Tara rolled her eyes but slid her hand into Darcy’s regardless and gave her a look of complete adoration.

It felt incredible to finally be able to talk about being bi with other queer people. The only person I’d talked to about this kind of thing with was Charlie, but having queer friends felt like I finally had a community – plus there were only so many times I could talk about sexuality without calling Charlie cute and us making out.

He was the first guy I actually knew I liked, but looking back now I know there were others; I’m pretty sure I hadn’t watched  _ Les Misérables _ or  _ Captain America _ just for the plot or amazing acting and definitely not for Eddie Redmayne or Chris Evans. Still, I’d been convinced I was straight until I met Charlie after that Quidditch match and started talking to him, and realised that wanting to touch his hair or hold his hand wasn’t how I felt about many other guys. 

I never thought I’d ever ask someone outright if they liked me, let alone kiss them first, but the incident with Ben made me properly realise  _ I had a crush on Charlie Spring _ . Nobody expected a Gryffindor Quidditch “lad” to like, let alone go out with a Slytherin prefect or for them to both be guys – most people accepted inter-house relationships but Slytherin/Gryffindor ones were, like gay relationships, barely tolerated.

Tara looked down at her watch then up at me. “Nick, Quidditch practice is in 15 minutes, we should probably go.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Charlie looked at his watch then cursed under his breath. “Fuck, I’m meeting Tori in the library, I need to go as well.”

“It’s great to meet you Darcy, hope I’ll see you around?” 

She smiled and nodded before I turned to Charlie, said goodbye and kissed him on the cheek. Tara hugged Darcy then grinned at me as we continued down the corridor.

“You two are actually the cutest,” I said. She grinned but shook her head.

“Nah, that goes to you and Charlie, but thanks." she replied. “God, it’s gonna really piss off Harry that half the team isn’t straight. Quidditch, more like Queer-ditch!”

Harry Greene was one of the Beaters on our team. He was kind of a self-obsessed dick but he was really good at beating so we kept him on the team. He also shared a dorm with me and gave me a lot of shit for hanging out with a gay Slytherin prefect. 

“Yeah, what did you mean when you said you thought there were two other gays?”

She smiled knowingly. “Ok so you know Becky and Raine?” 

Becky, or Rebecca, was a Chaser and Raine (technically Lorraine but you didn’t call her that unless you wanted to get punched) was a Beater.

I contemplated for a few seconds then nodded. “I can see it. You think they’re going out or just queer independently?”

“I don’t think they’re going out. But I think they like each other. They keep giving each other looks that I’ve only seen from Darcy looking at me, and there was that time at our last practice when Raine ‘accidentally’ hit the Bludger towards Harry when he was trying to ask Becky out?”

“Oh my god, yeah, I remember now! They could definitely like each other.” Tara and I, having reached the first floor, turned onto the main staircase. “As the expert on queer girls, do you think they’re gay or bi or…?”

“I’m getting the pan vibe from Raine, I think. And Becky’s probably bi, she went out with Ben last year." Both of us made faces of disgust and I felt my hand ball into a fist. “I honestly wonder how every girl isn’t a lesbian when guys like him or Harry exist.”

“I’d gouge my eyes out before I went out with a guy like them.” 

We finally reached the changing rooms to find some others already there. Becky, hair magically charmed purple and tied up in a topknot, was pulling on her robes over a white shirt and leggings and talking to Raine, who had an undercut and silver hair that contrasted with her brown skin. The other Chaser and Seeker were yet to arrive.

I was nearly done changing when Harry walked in, oozing narcissism and hair gel with every step. “Hello lads and ladies. Are we waiting for anyone else?”

“Hi Harry,” I greeted him begrudgingly. “And no. You’re the last one here. We’ll see you on the pitch in a couple minutes, yeah?”

“Oh, okay. See you out there.”

We all grabbed our brooms and the chest where the kit was stored and headed out. 

“Right, everyone!” I said in my Quidditch Captain voice once they’d all gathered in front of me. “Our first game of the season is in two weeks, so we need maximum engagement until then. Let’s have a quick warm-up then I’ll go over some new strategies we can use against Ravenclaw."


	3. TORI

Charlie was late. I wouldn’t care but he was normally a stickler for being on time; I’d never known him to be unpunctual in his life. I was about to leave the library to go and search for him when he entered and wove his way through the desks and shelves to where I was sitting with my Arithmancy essay in front of me. There was something off about him – his cheeks were flushed, and his shirt was ruffled in places.

“Hello Charles,” I said, staring into his eyes, trying to guess what was wrong. They were the same shape and colour as mine, piercing blue. We had a similar complexion as well – a lot of people thought we were twins even though I was a year older than him. 

“Hi, Tori. Sorry I’m late, I was talking about… prefect Quidditch stuff with Nick." 

Nick Nelson was Charlie’s friend from my year. I’d seen him around but never really talked to him until he stayed over during this summer. Nick actually seemed nice though, and Charlie liked him so he couldn’t be that bad; I just hoped he wouldn’t fall for him then get heartbroken if Nick was straight.

“Sounds interesting. Care to elaborate?” 

He went a deeper shade of pink and muttered “No.”

Maybe his crush wasn’t so unrequited after all. But I would get to that later. Interrogating my brother about his love life wasn’t the only reason I’d asked to meet him. “Anyway, Dad’s birthday is soon, what were you going to get him?” 

Charlie looked relieved. “Oh, um, I saw this collector’s edition of his favourite book. He’ll probably still destroy it but I think he would like it, you?"

“I was going to get him a new quill or some socks or something from Hogsmeade.”

“Awesome." Charlie shifted uncertainly. “Hey, if you didn’t want to talk to me about anything else I might head off? I’ve got a Potions essay to finish and I need Aled’s help.”

“Okay, see you around." He turned to leave before I spoke again. “Charlie, what’s going on with you and Nick Nelson?”

“What do you mean?” Charlie’s face was crimson. “We’re friends…”

“Sure you are.” I responded, raising an eyebrow coyly. He looked conflicted for a second, then pulled up a chair opposite me and leaned close.

“Okay, fine. We’re… he’s… he’s my… boyfriend…” Charlie put his hand in his hair and smiled bashfully.

“That’s great, I’m really happy for you,” I said, without sarcasm or cynicism. I was genuinely happy for him – with all the shit he went through last year, he deserves a loving, caring boyfriend and I hope Nick can be that for him. “But if Nick does anything to hurt you, I will personally murder him.”

“Oh I know you will," he replied. “I love you Tori.”

“Love you too, Charlie."

  


A few days later, at lunchtime, I was coming out from the Great Hall when my seventh year Ravenclaw boyfriend Michael Holden practically bounced down the stairs and ran up to me.

“Tori!” 

“Hi Michael.” I had to stand back a bit to look up at him as he was an entire foot taller than me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the doors into the grounds.

“Where are we going?” 

“It’s a lovely day, why not be outside?”

He stopped dragging me when we were under a large oak not far from the castle. It was actually where we’d had our first kiss back in February. 

Last November I’d been taking a walk in the grounds to clear my head when I’d come across Michael practising ice skating on the frozen lake – he’d done it at his Muggle primary school and still brought his skates every year if he got a chance to practise. We started talking and eventually after a couple months of talking and him teaching me ice skating, we kissed. Our relationship sometimes felt more like a really close friendship than the romances in the cheesy Muggle films Michael sometimes made we watch – not that I didn’t like him romantically, I did, but I don’t think it would have worked if we didn’t have the friendship first.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked Michael, sitting down next to him under the tree.

“So I watched this Muggle film over the summer, and the main actor was so gorgeous, honestly the most beautiful man I have ever seen-"

“Did you just want to talk to me about hot guys?” I questioned, rolling my eyes. “And unless you’re talking about Jake Gyllenhaal, I don’t want to know."

“I swear one day you’re going to leave me for him.” Michael said in faux devastation. “But to be fair, he’s  _ very _ nice looking.”

Sometimes I felt slightly jealous when Michael talked so openly about his pansexuality. I always just presumed I was straight, but honestly Michael was the only person I’d ever really liked besides Jake Gyllenhaal. I wish I could be as sure as Michael or as open as Charlie about this kind of thing. Maybe I would never know what all of this means and I wish I was fine with that.

I smiled at him, then checked my watch. “Transfiguration is in ten minutes, we should probably go.” I grabbed my bag, but Michael stopped me.

“One second, you’ve got something on your face," he said and reached up but instead of wiping what was there, pressed my cheek dimple making a ‘beep’ sound. 

I raised my eyebrows and rolled my eyes, then, without really thinking, kissed him. We kissed until I pulled away. “Sorry, but we really should go now."

“Okay. See you later.”

As I walked away I thought about what my life would be like without Michael Holden. I wouldn’t like that.


	4. FRANCES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> featuring: THE FLASHMOB  
> (also if you're not in the unofficial heartstopper discord you might not understand a bit in the middle but don't worry)

When I entered the Hufflepuff common room it was almost deserted as I’d left dinner early to finish my Charms essay. I flopped down on the comfiest armchair and got my quill and parchment out, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t think of anything. Crap. It was due tomorrow, and I had Charms with the Slytherins, meaning Daniel Jun would probably gloat if he handed it in and I didn’t. Daniel and I were probably the smartest people in our class and, at a stretch, our year, despite not being Ravenclaws. The difference between me and him, though, was that he thought we were in a war of who could be the biggest nerd and I thought our rivalry was absolutely hilarious. As much as he got on my nerves, he was my best friend’s boyfriend and best friend since childhood so he couldn’t be too bad.

I still think after three years I should have been in Ravenclaw, but I liked Hufflepuff nevertheless. Except maybe my dorm-mate and friend Jamie, I barely knew anyone in my house – my best friends Aled Last and Raine Sengupta were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively. Aled and I had met at the beginning of my third year when I’d started talking to him in the queue of a signing for a book we both loved at Flourish & Blotts. We actually lived in the same village but as his family was pure blood and as I was only half, his mother didn’t want him associating with me. Once the year actually started, we started talking a lot more because we’d both chosen Ancient Runes for our OWLs.

I’d known Raine since first year when she rode in the same carriage as me on the Hogwarts Express. I used to be friends with Aled’s sister Carys but things had been awkward since I kissed her at the post-Quidditch party last year. I was over her but I still thought she low-key hated me.

I’d still not managed to do more than the introduction of the essay when a sixth year entered and sat down across the room from me. She had shoulder length dark hair, olive skin and startlingly intense eyes. I realised now I recognised her.

“Sorry for asking,” I started, hesitantly. She looked up from her own work and stared at me. “That Hufflepuff costume party last year? Didn’t you go as Amy Santiago from  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ ?”

“Yeah, I did." she replied. “You were Rosa, right?”

“That’s me. Frances Janvier.” That party had actually been really fun - me and her had had like a half hour conversation about  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ and what we thought about all the characters. Apparently she had only seen it because her Muggle-born boyfriend had made her watch it and she’d ended up loving it. I was brought up watching stuff like that as even though I was half-blood my wizard dad left when I was young so I was practically raised Muggle-born. 

“Tori Spring" she replied. I'd heard the surname before but I didn’t know where. She gave me a brief smile then got up and went up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory. I watched her disappear then dipped my pen into my ink bottle and tried to begin.

I wasn’t expecting to see her again, let alone in a few days.

 

I was sitting in the courtyard with Aled and he was telling me all about his idea for a radio show he wanted to make, his blue eyes sparkling with passion.

“So it’s an alternate universe and there’s this student Radio who lives in Universe City but the government there is really corrupt so Radio and their friends are trying to get out…”

Across the courtyard I noticed Jamie sprinting to a cluster of people in the opposite corner to me and Aled, holding what must be the new issue of this Muggle comic Heartrender by Alice Oozeman.

“Y’all have you seen this?!” they asked, short brown hair flying behind them as they ran.

“Do you think there will be any Mucus in it?” said a tall Ravenclaw Quidditch player with brown curly hair.

Another Ravenclaw, this one with brown-to-blonde hair shoved her and replied, “Shut up, Snellen.” 

This was met without with outrage by a smaller Ravenclaw who had short brown hair and looked a bit like a Pokemon trainer “Don’t talk to my wife like that!”

“Thanks babe”

“Okay back to the comic lads!” said Eve, a good friend of Jamie’s. 

Everyone gathered round Jamie as they flicked through each of the pages, occasionally gasping or wiping a tear. Even though I’d never read it, I loved hearing Jamie and the others talking about it. I hoped one day people would talk about Aled’s show the same way and love it as much as we did.

 

“Hey, Aled!” I turned my head and saw a tall Slytherin coming towards our table.

“Hi Charlie!” Aled said and waved at him. “Oh, do you know Frances at all?”

“I don’t think so. I’m Charlie Spring. Slytherin Seeker.”

“Frances Janvier"

That’s where I’d heard the name Spring before. There was a massive thing last year where he’d got outed and bullied a bunch.

“Aled, have you finished the thing for Potions? I cannot do the conclusion for the life of me.” Charlie fished a roll of parchment of his bag and Aled leaned over to him.

 

I stared across the courtyard and caught sight of Tori approaching.

“Have you seen Michael?” she asked Charlie. He looked around for a second then pointed behind Tori. A tall teenage boy, Ravenclaw with thick glasses and a dreamy expression had come into the courtyard. He waved at Tori then ran up to a table and climbed onto it.

Suddenly he started singing - completely acapella. It took me a moment to realise he was singing  _ We’re All In This Together _ from  _ High School Musical _ before I - and a few other half-bloods and Muggle-borns - started hesitantly joining in (me a bit more enthusiastically than the others).

“I’m actually going to break up with him" Tori said next to me, rolling her eyes once he’d finished. That made sense - Michael must be her boyfriend who’d shown her all those Muggle films and TV shows.

He finished bowing to people then bounded up to where Tori, Charlie, Aled and I were sitting.

“Was that not  _ the most  _ incredible flashmob you have ever seen?” he asked Tori, plonking himself down next to her.

“I hate you." Her face was completely deadpan.

“It was,” I said and he glanced over to me.

“Thank you.” He held a hand out to me. “Michael Holden. Professional lover of  _ High School Musical _ .”

I shook it tentatively. “Frances Janvier. Me too.”

He grinned. “Muggle-born or half?”

“Half," I replied, “but my mum raised me and she’s a Muggle so I was brought up on Disney Channel.”

“Have you seen  _ Night At The Museum _ ?”

“Course I have. Rami Malek? Best part of that film.”

“See?” he said, giving Tori a pointed look. “Rami Malek is a very beautiful man and  _ nothing  _ can convince me otherwise.”

We continued talking about the best Muggle films until we had to go to lessons.

 

On the way to class, Aled tentatively asked me how I knew Tori and I explained about the party.

“That’s cool," he replied. “I know her because of Charlie mostly, we haven’t really spoken but...I don’t know, I think we’d get on well”

“Yeah. I think you would.”


	5. OCTOBER

Nick and I had hardly had any times in the cupboard since the one nearly two weeks ago - his first Quidditch match of this year was just around the corner plus we didn’t want to be interrupted by someone again. It could easily have been someone who could have spread our relationship round the whole school and Nick didn’t want to come out before the Winter Ball.

I’d hardly seen him the week before his match when he approached me just as I’d got up from the lunch table. 

“Hey, Charlie!”

“Hi Nick!” I smiled at him and he went pink. “You okay?”

“Yeah, so after the match on Saturday there’s gonna be a party in the common room - if we win of course - so, do you want to come as well? I don’t want to hang out with my Gryffindor friends.”

“Um, I’m Slytherin, would that be okay? Also will people like Harry Greene be there?”

“I can promise Harry will either be off his face on Firewhiskey, making out with someone or both. And trust me no will give a shit unless you’re a Ravenclaw. Please, Charlie.” He gave me an imploring look.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine.”

“Thanks Char, you’re the best”

He was about to touch my hand but then went red and didn’t. I caught sight of Tori over Nick’s shoulder taking a very pointed sip of her drink while raising one eyebrow.

“Wait, since when do you call me Char?”  
Nick’s face went the colour of his Quidditch uniform. “That was, erm, an accident...it just kind of, erm, slipped out…”

I smiled at him and reached instinctively to touch his hand until I saw Ben Hope over his shoulder looking from me to Nick. He mouthed “laaame” at me before finishing his drink and getting up. I watched him intently as he pushed past us while coughing something that sounded like “gay”.

“I hate him so fucking much” said Nick once Ben had disappeared. 

“Same. You okay?” He nodded but his hands were shaking slightly. I literally despised Ben so much. I could deal with him giving me shit but not Nick; He didn’t deserve that at all. “We don’t have to do the ball together if people like him are gonna do stuff like that-”

“No! I like you and I’m not gonna let anyone stop that”

“I like you too, you’re the best” I replied. “But I gotta go to History of Magic now. See you later!”  
He beamed and I grinned back before turning and leaving.

Every day I thought about how lucky I was that Nick was my boyfriend. He was kind, thoughtful and considerate - always looking out for the people he cared about. He also had probably the best arms I’d ever seen but obviously I’d love him even if he didn’t.

Still I’m worried that Nick’s only doing the coming out and Winter Ball thing for my sake. I’ve had first hand experience of being forced out of the closet and it’s awful, I wouldn’t want that for my worst enemy let alone my boyfriend. Maybe things are better than they were last year or maybe it was just the people I was friends with that meant I got so much shit for being gay but I prayed people had finally got over their stupid backward ideas. 

The next day after school I left the library, about to go back to the Slytherin Common Room when I saw a blonde figure sprinting down the corridor towards me.

“Charlie?” It was Darcy Olsson.   
“You gotta come see this"

I followed her at a pace. “What’s going on?”

“You know that twat Harry Greene - Sixth Year Gryffindor?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know him.”

“Well… he kind of found out about, um, you, I don’t know how, but shit’s going down with him and Nick in the courtyard…”

“I’m actually going to fucking murder him" I replied after a pause, then ran towards it while Darcy followed, a worried expression on her face. It must have been Ben Hope who did this, no one else who knew would have thought of doing something like that.

I couldn’t see Nick initially, only a crowd of people in the centre, everyone focused on what was going on there. Tara was on the edge of the crowd.

I entered the yard and pushed past everyone to see Nick standing apart from Harry and the rest of his friend group, who looked round at me the second I got to the front.


	6. NICK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey tw for some homophobic language a couple times in this chapter

There was silence for a few seconds, all attention focused on Charlie whose face was like thunder.

“Here he is,” drawled Harry, walking over to me. “The gaylord himself. Come to rescue his fairy prince.”

A few people snorted from behind me but Charlie didn’t react.

Harry rolled his eyes and took another step towards me. “Nick, man, I’m not homophobic” Yeah fucking right he’s not. “But I gotta ask - out of everyone, why turn gay for Charlie Spring? He’s a fucking snake! Did you just feel sorry for him? Did you just pity him? Because you’re both pathetic fags-”

“Harry, come on” A voice came from behind him and everyone looked round to see Sai Verma, my friend from Potions, stepped towards Harry. I’m glad someone had stepped in before I got out my wand and hexed him. “You’re making this a way bigger deal than it has to be.”

“Yeah, we don’t really give a shit whether or not Nick’s gay” This came from another of my friend group, Christian McBride. “Just be quiet.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that Nick decided to be gay for a fucking Slytherin prefect of all people?” Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

“Shut the fuck up Harry” I said, my throat unsticking finally. “I’m bisexual and I didn’t ‘turn’ gay for Charlie. If you have a problem with me dating him I don’t care what you have to say just stop making a massive deal out this and fuck off.”

He looked taken aback. I’d talked back to him about giving Charlie shit before but he’d brushed it off and for a second I thought he’d take me seriously but he just laughed and said “Whatever. It’s not like you can do shit about anything I say.”

“Maybe not.” This came from Charlie, who’d been surprisingly silent though he’d looked like he’d tried to speak a few times before in the conversation. “But I can. Prefects can give detentions, and I’m sure McGonagall would love to hear what you’ve said.”

Everyone made a noise of shock and Harry tried to keep up a face of disinterest but I could tell he was panicking, if Harry even could panic. It generally didn’t fit with his brand of confident indifference.

“Okay we’re done here. Everyone, you should leave, unless you want to come with me” Charlie forcefully addressed those gathered and they left unwillingly. Once most were gone he ran up to me.

“Fuck, Nick are you alright?” He asked apprehensively. I tried to say ‘yes’ but I couldn’t. Suddenly he reached in and hugged me hard. “Look, I gotta go see McGonagall and she’ll probably want to talk to you…”

“Not yet” I replied suddenly. “I’ll come see her tomorrow. Sorry, I’m going to go down to the lake for a bit”

“Okay. I’ll come down when I’ve finished” he replied, looking with mild disgust at Harry.

I watched him leave and felt my stomach drop slightly, realising I’d have to walk through the whole school and have people look at me or say shit, when I saw Tara and Darcy approach. Without saying anything, they gave me a massive hug and there’s something about being in a hug sandwich of lesbians that would make everyone feel better.

They didn’t waste time asking if I was okay.

"I'm gonna go down to the lake for a bit" I said once they'd finally stopped hugging me.

"We'll come with you." Darcy said and Tara nodded. "In case anyone says anything."

"Okay." I responded. We set off and none of us spoke; there was nothing to say, nothing any of us could do to make it better. A couple people gave me weird or pitying looks but no one said anything, thank God. When we arrived to the lake, they hugged me again then walked away, leaving me sitting under a tree, watching the Giant Squid’s tentacles cause ripples across the lake and trying not to think about what just happened.

"Nick?" I looked over at the castle and saw that Charlie was approaching me. He sped up and sat himself down next to me but didn't say anything for a few moments. "So... I talked to McGonagall. She hasn't done anything with Harry yet, she wanted to hear from you first, but she's on your side." There was a long awkward silence. "Do you want to... talk? What happened before I got there?"

"Okay." I said quietly. "Not much really. Harry got everyone's attention and said that a little bird told him I was going out with you, I asked how he knew and he didn't want to tell me, then he started saying stuff like how I'd shared a Quidditch changing room with him for years and he'd never thought I was gay and that I was probably checking him out the whole time. Then you got there."

His eyes went wide. "Shit, that's horrible, I'm so sorry." Another silence. "You didn't deny it then?"

Something flared up in me. "Why would I? They were gonna find out anyway"

"Sorry, I meant that- that I wouldn't want you to feel pressured into coming out just because I am. I wouldn't have minded if you'd said that it wasn't true."

"I'm not ashamed of this- of us. Yeah, I didn’t want to come out like that but I like you so much and I'm done with being terrified that someone's going to find out." Charlie smiled and reached for my hand.

"I like you so much too. I'm incredibly proud of you."

"Thanks." I squeezed his hand. "Coming out doesn't get easier, does it?"

He shook his head. "It's hard at first but it will, I promise. The world is so much more than Harry Greenes, and if there's nothing else, you've still got me."

"Thanks. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Be much sadder, single and lonely?"

"Sounds about right." I laughed but Charlie could tell I was still upset. He tilted his head to one side.

"Is everything else alright?"

"It's just... a lot of what Harry said reminded me of what my brother said when I came out to him." Charlie's face flashed with anger; he really didn't like David Nelson. "And I know I shouldn't listen to them, but Harry's part of the Quidditch team and I hope he isn't gonna be a massive dick or try and mess up the game or whatever..."

"Nick. This is Harry Greene we're talking about, he cares way more about winning a Quidditch game than you being bi." he said grinning. "Plus if I see him being horrible I will hex him from the stands, I promise."

"You'll be too busy looking at me in my uniform. Admit it, that's the only reason you come to the games."

"You've caught me" He threw his hands up in mock defeat then slowly put his hands on my face and leaned in to kiss me and for a moment I could forget everyone else existed. Just him and me against the world.


	7. TORI

On the morning of the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor Quidditch match in late October it felt like everyone was excited except for me. People were either decked out in blue with bronze eagle symbols everywhere or garish red with gleaming gold lions. As Gryffindor was playing, that meant Slytherin would be supporting whoever was playing against them, which left Hufflepuff to support Gryffindor but despite this I was wearing two small badges on my coat - an eagle and a lion, for Michael and Becky. Most of the time I didn't even go to the matches, unless Charlie, Michael or Becky made me.

Once the whole school had made its way out to the pitch and assembled in the stands after breakfast, I ended up surrounded by Hufflepuffs. I always felt a bit out of place when I was with them as most of them are basically the embodiment of sunshine and I’m kind of a miserable fuck. I guess being happy isn’t the only thing that makes you a Hufflepuff, there’s also loyalty, honesty, dedication, patience etc. I’m pretty loyal and hard-working and I really hate it when people lie to me, but I’m not sure about me being patient. Patience kills.

"Hi" I looked round and saw I’d ended up next to a smiling Frances and another Fourth Year. "This is Jamie, Jamie, that's Tori"

Her friend grinned and waved at me and I awkwardly waved back.

"So, who are you supporting today?" Frances asked.

"Well... my boyfriend's the Ravenclaw seeker but my best friend is a Gryffindor Chaser so...both?" I answered and she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm supporting Gryffindor 'cos my friend's a Beater but Jamie's supporting Ravenclaw because their friends Ellen and Elliot are playing. Chaser and Keeper." She glanced at Jamie before continuing. "Plus their girlfriend bullied them into it."

Their mouth opened in mock outrage. "Skye didn't bully me, we had a deal. She would show me the crappy fanfic she wrote when she was twelve if I supported Ravenclaw in the next Quidditch match."

Frances snorted but before she could respond, a whistle was blown by Ms Singh and the players who'd been making their way onto the pitch rose into the air and flew into their places. The commentator, a Fourth Year in Hufflepuff called Lister Bird, who'd taken over after the former commentator Ellen Kenny quit to join the Ravenclaw team, introduced all the players briefly, sometimes with a comment about whether he would date them. He actually used to be a Hufflepuff beater until in the Cup Final he hit a Bludger so hard it broke the Keeper's nose then ricocheted into the teacher's box, after which it was suggested he didn't rejoin next year.

"And finally on the Gryffindor team, Nicholas Nelson, Keeper, lovely fellow and very attractive, even if he has a boyfriend-"

"Mr Bird, keep your crushes to yourself and focus on the game!" The voice of McGonagall cut through Lister's thirsting.

"Apologies Professor. And onto the Ravenclaws..."

It wasn't long before the match started but I wasn't really paying attention to it, just watching Michael circle above the match trying to find the Snitch and occasionally looking down when it got dramatic. The game had been going for about forty-five minutes with Gryffindor in the lead when both Michael and the other Seeker started speeding towards the ground. They were neck and neck when the Gryffindor sped up, hand outstretched and pulled out of the dive holding the Snitch. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs erupted into cheers while the Slytherins and Ravenclaws either clapped politely or looked very annoyed.

It wasn't long before everyone began to make their way onto the pitch, clapping the Gryffindors on the back or commiserating the Ravenclaws. Once it had cleared a little of people I made my way down to where Michael was talking to a couple of people. 

"Well, there's still a chance we could win if Gryffindor get flattened by Hufflepuff- Tori!" His eyes lit up when he saw me and he bounced over after waving off his friends. "What a game, right?"

"Yes. Even though you lost." I replied with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. "Quidditch."

"Ever the cynic." He pouted slightly. "I gotta get changed but I'll see you at lunch, I am starving"

"Right. See you soon."

I was walking slowly through the grounds back to lunch when I heard someone shout my name from behind me and seconds later a mass of purple hair and black coat came flying at me and nearly knocked me over. It was my best friend, Sixth Year Gryffindor Chaser Becky Allen.

"Hi Becky." I said. "Congratulations by the way."

Becky slung an arm over my shoulders. "Thanks, it was really good, right?" She didn't wait for an answer before continuing to talk. "So, because of our epic win, there's gonna be a party tonight and team members can bring a plus one so I kind of need you to come?"

I sighed and wriggled out from under her. "Why would I want to come? I'm a Hufflepuff and I don't drink."

"That's exactly why I need you! I'm probably going to get pretty wasted and I need you to stop me from doing anything stupid, like, I don't know, making out with someone I barely know."

"Fair enough. But you should know I'm only agreeing to this because I don't want another Lucas incident." This was in reference to a slightly weedy Slytherin in our year, Lucas Ryan, who Becky had drunk kissed at some post-Quidditch thing and actually gone out with for a bit last year until she realised he was the human equivalent of a damp flannel and thought she was some manic-pixie-dream-girl destined to show him the meaning of life or whatever.

"Thanks so much, you're the best!" She kissed me on the cheek and started babbling about her many excellent Bludger hits in the game earlier. 

That night, after only three quarters of an hour, I found myself Becky-less. It's not like this is the first time she's asked me to look after her then abandoned me after not that long to do whatever it is you do at parties. To be fair I'd sworn to not go with Becky to a party because it always ended up like this but that was before the one time I didn't go and she hooked up with Lucas Ryan. 

Charlie was here too, I'd talked to him for a bit - I think he might have been a bit drunk because he just started ranting about what happened last week with Nick, his boyfriend, and Harry Greene. Charlie was talking to him now, grinning and eyes full of happiness. Nick was actually one of the decent Gryffindors and I was so glad Charlie was happy with him but still, it sucked right now being sober and alone.

I caught sight of Becky sitting at the top of the stairs to the girls dormitory, tucked away from everyone a bit, talking to one of the Chasers, and was about to go and talk to her when out of the blue they started kissing. Not sure if I should stop her or not, I just stood there watching them. Not like I wasn’t used to third-wheeling her anyway. As soon as she started liking guys, they liked her too and they would date for a bit until someone's heart got broken and I would be there to pick up the pieces. I guessed this applied to girls now too.

Trying to find something else to do, I looked absentmindedly around and saw Frances not that far away, also looking at Becky and the other girl with the same expression as me. I'm not sure if we count as friends now or we're just acquaintances but something inside me makes me push through the other partygoers and approach her.


	8. FRANCES

It took me a second to realise it was Raine who'd started kissing the purple haired girl. I want to be mad at her for abandoning me at a party she wanted me to come to so she "wouldn't do anything dumb while drunk" but I can't be. Instead I'm mad at her for kissing another girl and I know I shouldn't be when I never told her how I feel about her. When she started talking about the girl with purple hair on the Quidditch team who she thought was cute, I thought it was just one of her fleeting crushes who she'd admire from afar but not do anything about. I hadn't expected her to do this. I was actually considering asking her to the Winter Ball but now I guess I'm going alone. Third wheeling like fucking always.

I'd been so absorbed in my head I didn't notice Tori Spring right in front of me.

"Hi" she said. Why was she here? Did we even count as friends? "Is... everything okay?"

"Like fuck it's not" I said before I could help myself, tears starting to pour from my eyes. "It's not like my best friend, who I'm in love with, abandoned me and is making out with some girl with purple hair."

"Purple hair? That's my best friend Becky, she blew me off too, like fifteen minutes ago?” replied Tori. “Which was alright, but she asked me to come here to look after her and stop her doing anything stupid. You alright though?”

"Not really.” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and took a few shaky breathes. She pulled a tissue from her jacket pocket and gave it to me.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No. How long have you known her?” I asked, trying to distract myself.

"Oh, forever really. We grew up together in the same town and my parents knew her mum because they went to Hogwarts together. We kinda stayed together all through our time here, even though she's Gryffindor." Tori replied, maybe a bit reluctantly. "What about you and your friend?"

"Oh, we've only been friends since first year. Met on the train, and we had a lot of classes together then. But I only started having a crush on her after I got rejected by this girl last year and she helped me through it. We've both kinda always been sure we liked more than just boys so that helped."

"I never knew Becky liked girls." Tori said quietly. "Not that I mind, my brother's gay, but I'd rather learn through her telling me than seeing her make out with a girl at a party."

"Maybe she didn't want coming out to be this big thing. Or she didn't care who knows. It doesn't have to be some big secret."

"True." she said. "Look, do you just want to go back to the Hufflepuff Dorms?"

I glanced over at Becky and Raine, who weren't kissing anymore but looked pretty deep in conversation. "Okay. I'm gonna tell Raine where I'm going though."

I pushed my way through to the bottom of the stairs and shouted up to her. "Hey, Raine?"

She looked round. "Frances, mate! Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" I'm not fine. "Look, I'm kinda tired, mind if I head off?"

"But this is fun!" she said in a tone I only knew when she was drunk. "Sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just pretty exhausted and I have a Transfiguration test on Monday -"

"You always have tests! You need to loosen up and have some fun!" she grumbled. "Okay, if you're sure, that's fine. See you tomorrow, I probably need your help for the test or McGonagall will actually kill me."

"True. See you." I was about to leave the common room when Becky spoke to me.

"Hey, you're a Hufflepuff right? Have you seen my friend - kinda short, black hair-"

"Tori? Yeah I was about to go back with her." She raised her eyebrows.

"She was? Well, er, tell her I'll see her tomorrow and… er- nevermind"

"Cool, okay. See you guys soon"

I rejoined Tori and together we forced our way through a bunch of now very drunk students. Once I'd passed on Becky's message, we walked back to Hufflepuff in complete silence. Had I told her too much? Were we actually friends now?

I tried to shove all the questions to the back of my head. It had felt good to talk to someone about what had been going on, even if that person was an awkward acquaintance two years older than me.

The next day Aled and I sat in the grounds at breaktime while I caught him up on the situation with Raine. "I know I shouldn't be mad at her, obviously it's not like she's cheating on me because she's not even my girlfriend and now she won't ever be!"

Aled nodded solemnly. He’d been the biggest fan of 'Fraine' and was very disappointed to hear it would never become a thing.

"Hey, I'm sorry dude" he replied, patting my arm. "I'm sure the right person is out there for you somewhere."

"Yeah I know." I sighed. "Honestly I don't want a partner right now. I just want to eat a lot of cake and try to get over her."

"Fair enough." Aled said and pulled me in for a hug.

"Hey, Aled" We both spun round and saw Daniel Jun walking over.

"That's my cue to leave. Catch you later!" I was about to get up but Daniel shook his head. He looked almost nervous.

"No, don't bother. Aled, I was just wondering if you... wanted to go to the ball with me?"

Aled smiled and his pale blue eyes lit up. "Yeah of course, I thought we were already going together?"

"Oh, yeah, well I figured I should ask you officially" Daniel looked like he was going slightly pink. "Okay, bye, see you."

I looked over at Aled and saw he was blushing too. "Mate, you're blushing so much right now."

"What? No I'm not!" he said hastily and tried to hide behind his soft blonde hair. "Are you gonna go to the ball at all?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Not like I have anyone to go with, I was gonna ask Raine but... yeah, and all my friends are going with other people. Kinda lame, just going by myself."

He gave me an awkward smile. "You should still come, I think it'll be fun!"

"Hmm I guess."

The bell rang and we got up and went back into the castle for lessons. Over the next few hours it was hard to not feel bitter -  I was really happy for Aled and Daniel but it felt like I was the only person in the whole of Hogwarts who would be going alone to the Ball. Was there something wrong with me?


	9. NOVEMBER

With only about a month and a half until the Winter Ball, the upper school seemed to suddenly become obsessed with it. Everywhere you looked, there was someone asking someone else or small groups of people gossiping about who they were going with, like they were all gripped in complete desperation that if they didn't have a date, their lives would be over. Everyone from fourth year and up was allowed to go and third years could go as well if they were invited by someone older, meaning the younger years were in a constant state of annoyance and Aled and I, like all the prefects, were constantly busy dealing with either them or small fights over who was going with who.

Thankfully, as part of his punishment from McGonagall, Harry Greene had been banned from going to the ball (along with being given two weeks worth of detentions). Even though Ben had been the one who tipped Harry off about us, he'd paid an unknown first year to do so, and telling McGonagall would risk exposing all that Ben had done to me last year. As much as I hated him, he didn't deserve to be outed.

On the penultimate Hogsmeade weekend of the term, Nick and I were in Gladrags Wizardwear trying to find complementary outfits for the Winter Ball with what felt like half the school. Nick was perfectly happy to wear jeans and a sweater but my parents had sent me money to get some as an early Christmas present and I dragged him into the shop so we would actually look nice together. However, we couldn’t spend forever choosing outfits because we’d agreed to double date with Tara and Darcy that lunchtime.

Nick actually found his outfit first: a maroon dress jacket, dark green bow tie and salmon trousers (that looked surprisingly nice despite his method of choosing being grabbing the first thing he saw in his size off the racks without even trying it on). It took a lot more looking around before we found mine though.

“Charlie, we’ve been down this aisle four times.” Nick groaned traipsing up and down the aisle after me. He pointed at a navy blue dress jacket and trousers set. “What about these?”

“I’ve already looked at those, they’re a bit boring, right?” I replied.

He rolled his eyes but then went over to a set of nice waistcoats in the adjacent row and grabbed an embroidered moss green one that matched the inside of the jacket. “Try it with this.”

I didn’t really think it would work but both me and Nick were kind of at our wits end with this so I agreed anyway. I thought it looked pretty nice when I glanced in the mirror before exiting the changing room but when Nick saw he started crying about how blue my eyes looked with that outfit. After he’d calmed down, I bought all three pieces and we finally headed to The Three Broomsticks to meet Tara and Darcy.

They were sitting in a booth at the back but stood up when they caught sight of us arriving and they kind of looked like the two ends of the lesbian fashion spectrum; Darcy was wearing a striped button up half tucked into ripped black jeans and Tara was wearing a purple cardigan, floral t-shirt and black mini-skirt. Darcy waved very enthusiastically as we pushed our way through the crowd of people to their table and hugged us both very tight before we sat down.

“Apologies about Darcy.” said Tara, looking at her with a combination of love and mild disappointment. “We went to Honeydukes earlier and she’s on a sugar high from eating nearly all the stuff she bought while we were waiting here.”

“Not all of it!” Darcy objected. “I didn’t touch your Christmas present!”

Tara grinned. “Didn’t stop you buying basically half the store!”

Darcy rolled her eyes but looked adoringly at Tara for a good few seconds. They looked like they were maybe about to kiss but then Darcy glanced reflexively round behind her to see if anyone was looking at them and the moment was broken. I remembered the not-so-distant past when Nick and I were just like this as a couple.

“So, Nick, Charlie,” said Tara beaming at us both from across the booth. “How did you two get together?”

I spilled the whole story of Quidditch, being outed and Ben, Nick occasionally chipping in with comments about how much he had a crush on me without realising. We had never actually told anyone else this but it was worth it now just to see Tara and Darcy’s reactions of complete and utter joy.

“That was so beautiful you guys.” Darcy pretended to wipe a tear from under her eye while Tara gently patted her arm.

“How about you guys then?” Nick asked. They both went red and laughed, avoiding each other’s eyes.

Darcy cleared her throat. “It’s kind of a long story.”


	10. NICK

“So, it starts back in first year when we met at the Sorting Ceremony before we were both put in Gryffindor - Jonesy was super nervous and I was trying to convince her they wouldn’t make a seperate house of mediocre people just for her.” Tara looked very embarrassed but Darcy continued anyway. “Then we found out we were roommates-”

“Oh my God, you were roommates?!” exclaimed Charlie and Darcy laughed.

“And we had all our lessons together so we became best friends pretty much instantly but I didn’t think I liked her until like the end of third year when she told me she kissed Nick and I got really jealous, which was weird because I never cared before when they hung for Quidditch and stuff and I was talking to my sister Emily, who’s also queer, about it over the summer and she legit had to ask me ‘Darcy, are you sure you don’t have a crush on Tara?’”

“God, I still can’t believe you had to be told you were gay by your  _ sister _ !” Tara sniggered and Darcy prodded her with her elbow.

“At least I didn’t have to be told I was gay by the  _ girl I kissed six times _ .”

“Yeah, how did that work?” Nick queried and Tara turned scarlet.

“So Tara never really mentioned kissing Nick again so things went kind of back to normal except I had this massive crush on her that I unsuccessfully tried to ignore for like a year until the start of fifth year, ‘cos over the summer Em made me promise I’d tell Tara I like her by the end of the year.”

“I was still super oblivious at this point but I’d noticed Darcy had been off for a while.” Tara resumed the story. “I tried to ask her about it and she said something about how she didn’t want ‘boys or whoever to get between us’, which was really weird and  _ super _ gay but I promised I wouldn’t and we were a lot closer after that, like we hugged a lot more, and when I came over for the Christmas holidays and we did a Muggle movie marathon we were cuddling for basically the entire time.” 

I couldn’t help beaming. “You are the most adorable lesbians ever!”

“Only because Jonesy’s here.” Darcy answered practically instantly. “Anyway, it wasn’t until February that I kissed her on the cheek before Quidditch practice then basically ran away-

“Which made me super confused but also really nervous and happy?”

“Then right before the next Quidditch game she kissed  _ me _ on the cheek so I thought she knew I liked her and liked me too but we were in that weird limbo between mutual crush and actually dating so we just kind of kept doing that? And then over Easter we went to the cinema together and we kissed in the theatre and a few more times over the month and I thought we were basically together but I figured we should probably talk about it.”

“And I was still really confused about why we were kissing but I liked it and I thought it was just like… a friendship thing?” Tara admitted and everyone burst out laughing.

“I can’t believe you gal-pal’ed you and your future girlfriend!” I snorted.

“Me neither. And I’m dating her.”

“When Darcy finally mentioned it, I’d pretty much figured out I didn’t want to be just friends but for some reason I didn’t figure out she liked me or that liking her meant I was a lesbian. But, we were both really stressed for OWLs at that point so we figured we’d leave it until after them to talk properly.”

“Eventually we did and she told me she’d realised she was actually gay and liked me and we started officially going out.” Darcy concluded, sliding her hand into Tara’s. 

I realised I’d started crying and patted my face with a tissue. “That was… so beautiful…”

“It’s okay babe. You can do this.” Charlie, unfazed, put his arm around me. Suddenly he started hysterically giggling, looking from me to Tara. I tilted my head in confusion. “Oh my God… Nick, I’ve just realised… 

“What?”

“All the people you’ve kissed have been gay…”

“No- wait…” I froze, then started laughing alongside Charlie as it dawned on me. Tara and Darcy pondered for a second then joined it as it slowly registered. “Shit, yeah you’re right! Oh my God… ”

We continued laughing for a while, causing several people to look round at our table but I didn’t care. I loved these crazy gay idiots with all my heart. Especially Charlie. He was my favourite person - cool, lovely and probably the sweetest person I knew and maybe it was weird that I loved him after only five months together but I genuinely did. I wanted to tell him, tell everyone just how much I loved him - fuck anything they had to say about us being queer or different houses. 

After talking for a bit longer and a few more Butterbeers, we left before it got too cold. Charlie and I said goodbye to Tara and Darcy outside Zonko’s as Darcy insisted she had to go in there as she was running low on pranking supplies.

We walked for a few minutes in silence while everything I wanted to tell Charlie bubbled up inside me. Was it too soon? Would he get freaked out? Would he break up with me?

“Hey, can I say something?” Charlie said but I was so in my own head I didn’t notice and spoke before I could back out.

“I love you.” There was a moment of silence when Charlie looked at me with wide eyes. “Sorry if that was too soon or you don’t say it back I just-”

He interrupted me with a kiss and I kissed him back for a few seconds until I pulled away. “Wait, what do you mean-”

“I love you too, you meathead. That’s what I was going to say! I’m just annoyed you got there first!”

“You’re a nerd, you know that right?”

“And you’re a lad.”

He took my hand as we walked up the path together and for a second I looked to see if there was anyone around but then I remembered, with a flush of happiness, that we didn’t have to be scared who saw us anymore.


	11. TORI

It was a few days after the Quidditch match and I still hadn’t got around to talking to Becky about what happened at the party. It wasn’t like I was avoiding her, but I had no idea what to even say to her or how to start that conversation - obviously I didn’t care but I wanted her to feel like she could trust me. We’d been friends forever and told each other basically everything so I didn’t know what had held her back from telling me about Raine.

She found me in the library at lunch on Tuesday, just as I was starting on my essay for Arithmancy.

“Tori?” she said, a worried expression on her face. “Can we talk? About the party last Saturday?”

“Sure.” I answered, closing up my book as Becky pulled up a chair and ran a hand through her hair.

“I’m guessing you saw what happened with me and Raine?” she began hesitantly. “And I’m sorry, I’m really sorry for everything, you know, abandoning you and then making out with someone, I realise I do that a lot. And not telling you about Raine. We’ve been friends for so long, I owe you more than that-”

“Look, it’s fine. Okay, it was a bit crappy you left me alone but I don’t mind if you wanna make out with whoever you want. And I understand if it was hard for you to tell me about Raine or you didn’t want it to be a big deal.” I replied. “But you know that- that you can trust me right?”

“Yeah of course. It was just… a lot you know? Like after years of thinking I just liked guys I suddenly had feelings for a girl and she liked me too and I didn’t realise there was a word for it or that it was even okay. But I’m fine with it now- I mean I’m bisexual.” she said and exhaled deeply.

“I’m proud of you” I responded. It felt insufficient with everything she’d just said but I didn’t know what else to say. “So, how long have you liked her?”

“I don’t really know… probably since near the end of last year? I thought about her a lot over the summer but I didn’t consider it was an actual crush until the start of this term. Raine said she  liked me ever since I joined the team though - she’s kinda always known she wasn’t straight.”

“That’s great, I’m glad you two are happy.” I legitimately am. Despite whatever happened at parties or anything like that she was still my best friend and she needed me right now. We needed each other.

“I’m sorry if you felt like I didn’t trust you enough to tell you. Just like, I was doing a pretty good job of pretending those feelings didn’t exist and if I told anyone that made it real.” 

It felt weird, with Becky being so honest with me about her sexuality that I couldn’t do the same, that I related too much to what she’d just said. It wasn’t like I had repressed feelings for girls or anyone really - more that there was barely anything to repress. I had Michael obviously but I didn’t like him because he was a hot guy. I liked him because he was Michael. Becky might be a bit of an outlier for liking the amount of people she did, which was fine, but I felt weird for having liked maybe two people my whole life. Maybe I’m just broken. Who knows?

“What about you, Tori? You alright?” she questioned, her brown eyes soft and wide.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Becky grinned and got up to leave but spun back round, hair flying in a violet arc. “Do you think I should invite Raine to the Winter Ball then?”

I thought with a pang about Frances so I gave a non-committal “If you want to.”

“Are you going with Michael?” she asked and her question caught me a bit off guard. 

“I guess we could, we haven’t discussed it though. Plus I don’t have anything to wear…”

“That’s fine, me neither, we could go to Hogsmeade this weekend and get stuff?” she proposed. “Even if Michael doesn’t want to come to the ball you could still tag along with us?”

“Like Michael would pass up an opportunity to dance.” I said. “So would it be you, Raine and me going shopping?”

“Nah, just us two.”

“Sounds awesome.” I couldn’t help smiling. “I seriously have to do this essay now sorry, see you later.”

“Okay, see ya!” She came round to where I was sitting and gave me a hug from behind, then ran out of the library while being stared daggers at by the librarian.

 

DECEMBER

 

Winter descended on the school like someone poured a bucket of ice water all over the castle. I wanted to spend all day in front of one of the fires in the common room but it was now cold enough for the lake to have frozen over, meaning Michael was spending every spare minute skating on it. He tried to teach me to skate a few times before at his local rink but I spent most of it clinging to him trying to not fall over (not that he or I minded that), so whenever he practiced I just sat at the side and watched him.

There was a certain art to his skating. He wasn’t a figure skater,  but his sharp turns that carved lines across the lake had a kind of grace to them; the same kind of grace I’d seen when he played Quidditch. I loved coming to Michael’s competitions, watching him overtake all of the other competitors with cold determination in his eyes but watching him skate alone and seeing just him, his eyes softer and gentle yet totally focused on the ice ahead of him. I could watch him skate all day, as weird or boring as that would be. Just him, doing what he loved most, attentive and intense.

He probably wasn’t the most conventionally attractive person in the world: different coloured eyes, thick glasses and a bit gangly but none of that mattered to me really. The way his eyes almost seemed to melt after a race when he saw me standing at the side ready to meet him and his face almost split open from smiling. That smile made him the most beautiful person on earth. Probably corny romantic bullshit but it’s funny because it’s true.

“Tori!” Michael shouted from the lake. “Come over here!”

Reluctantly, I got up from under the tree and pulled the two cloaks (mine and Michael’s) around my shoulders. 

“Michael, why are you making me get up? It’s  _ freezing _ !”

He was standing near the edge of the lake and bobbing up and down on his ice skates. Once I’d trudged over, he gestured behind him to what looked like semi-illegible writing.

“What does that say?” I stared closely, trying to decipher it. “Win-winner-winter? Winter… Ball? Michael are you asking me to the Ball?”

He nodded like he was trying not to explode with eagerness. “So, what do you say?”

“Yeah, yeah I’d love to! I meant to ask you actually, I was going to later.” I answered and Michael beamed, though he tried to look nonchalant. “It really is cold, can we go back inside now?”

“Okay, fine. Can I kiss you first though?” I responded by kissing him, slightly difficult given the height difference and the fact that he was on ice skates. “Let’s go then. I only have a month to find an outfit!”

“You’ll look great in whatever you wear.”

“You’re too kind.”


	12. FRANCES

Ever since Becky asked Raine to the Winter Ball, she hadn’t stopped talking about it, too busy talking about how adorable Becky was or what she was gonna wear to notice I was zoning out. I felt like a shitty friend for doing that but it still sucked to hear all about some other girl when I was definitely not over her.

I hadn’t even mentioned that to her - when we’d properly talked about what happened at the party she seemed so happy about finally kissing Becky that I didn’t want to bring her down. She’d been admiring Becky from afar for ages but thought she was straight until the party where Becky had drunkenly opened up about her confusion about sexuality and her feelings for Raine. Despite Raine being suave and confident, it was Becky who kissed her first once Raine admitted she liked her back. She could be a bit of a disaster around people she liked, which I thought was cute but she hated.

What I was most worried about now, other than crushing academic pressure, was whether I’d end up with a date to the ball. Raine had offered to wingman for me which was nice of her but ultimately just really sad and ironic. It’d probably be kind of shit but I was looking forward to drowning my feelings in Butterbeer and dancing to a pop-rock boy band, feeling left out.

It wasn’t long before term ended and most of the lower years left. This was the first year I’d stayed for Christmas and it felt strange walking around in what would have been lesson times with half the school missing. Mostly I just stayed in the Hufflepuff common room where the winter sun shone through the circular windows, casting a golden glow over the bright room. 

Before I knew it the Winter Ball was here and I thought about it with a mixture of nerves, sadness and excitement. I still didn’t have a date but I was still going to try and have a good time.

“Frances, you alright mate?” Raine asked. It was lunchtime and we were sitting in the Great Hall, a few hours before we were gonna start getting ready.

“Do you think I’m gonna be the only single person there?” I replied, breaking up the bread roll I’d been avoiding eating.

Raine threw a part of her own sandwich at me. “Are you really on about the date thing  _ again _ ?”

“Hey! You would be complaining if you hadn’t been asked by Becky!” I said and at the mention of her girlfriend’s name, Raine smiled. 

“Maybe, but to be fair I’d probably just end up getting wasted and dancing to shitty rock music.” Raine replied and shrugged. “Ya girl knows how to have fun.”

“Mate, this is a school event. Do you really think there will be alcohol?”

“If you know the right house elves.” She winked and I rolled my eyes. “Seriously Frances. It’s gonna be fine!”

I wasn’t very hopeful but I tried to smile anyway. I didn’t know if today was going to end in me crying into a glass of stolen whiskey or dad-dancing in a crowd of my friends, if they weren’t too busy making out with their dates to remember I existed.

The afternoon dragged on until finally it was time to start getting ready. Raine and I had actually gone shopping for clothes a few weeks earlier and I’d found a really cool flowy navy jumpsuit covered in doodle-style planets. I wasn’t doing too much for hair, just leaving my corkscrew curls loose, but I had one some cool dark blue eyeshadow and winged black eyeliner. 

I was meeting Raine in the Entrance Hall and when I saw her I was hit with a tsunami of bittersweet admiration. She was wearing skinny black trousers, a white v-neck blouse and this weird but awesome tartan suit jacket, and she’d re-dyed her hair silver and shaved the side of her head and I had to stop for a few seconds to just look at her. 

“Holy shit mate!” Raine caught sight of me and waved me over. “You look fucking  _ sick _ !”

I blushed. “Thanks mate. You look… really cool.”

“Becky will be here in a minute.” Raine looked around anxiously and fiddled with the cuffs of her jacket.

“Weren’t you getting changed in the same dorm?” I asked, a slightly sour feeling in my stomach.

“Yeah, but she’s a bit more… high maintenance than I am. When I left she was still doing her eyeliner.” She replied, awkwardly grinning. As she said that, a voice called Raine’s name and we both turned to see Becky descending the stairs. She looked amazing, not gonna lie. Like some kind of ethereal being, wearing a low-cut purple bodycon dress and black strappy high-heeled sandals. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she ended up towering over Raine.

“Fuck…” Raine said as she looked Becky up and down, shell-shocked. “You look incredible.”

Becky beamed. “So do you! Ready to go in?”

“If you are.”

 

They walked through the open doors hand in hand while I followed behind them into the vast and beautiful Great Hall, decorated with elaborate snowflakes and ice sculptures at all of the tables. The Ball had barely started but people had already started dancing to the crappy music either as groups or as couples.

My eyes scanned the room and I caught sight of several groups I recognised. Lister Bird had already gravitated towards the drinks table and I heard him trying to beg a house elf for Firewhiskey. As I watched, a tall dark-haired Ravenclaw pulled him away and after a short lecture, basically shoved him towards this short Hufflepuff Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, a friend of Jamie’s, who dragged Lister off to the dance floor. The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes and walked over to a group of girls - a tall Gryffindor wearing a pale pink hijab and a glitzy romper, another Gryffindor with long black hair who looked like she could happily kill you and an auburn-haired Slytherin wearing a burgundy dress. 

“Frances!” Walking across the hall towards me was Jamie, wearing a navy suit and Skye standing not far behind in a stylish blue dress. “You okay mate?”

“Jamie! Yeah, I’m alright.” I said, only slightly lying.

They looked either side of me then asked sympathetically “No date then?”

“Nah. I’m a single pringle.” I replied and they tilted their head to one side.

“Well, if you want to dance with someone, there’s probably one of my friends who’d want to go with you?” Jamie gestured behind them the group of Heartrender fans, including the Ravenclaw with ombre hair, dancing next to a short brown haired Gryffindor in a blue button up and black trousers. “You could probably dance with Ellen or Elliot, they’re basically divorced now.”

I laughed. “I’m okay. But thanks, see you later!” 

They grinned at me and did finger guns then turned round to Skye and pulled her off to the dance floor.

 

The music slowed down and most of the couples took to the floor, leaving me standing at the side at the food table, stuffing my face and trying to ignore everyone else having a good time. I’d been dreading a moment like this. If I was the main character in some teen film I’d grown up watching, I should be out there on the dance floor slow dancing with my crush, feeling like a part of something instead of watching all my friends get their happy endings. I could see my friends out there in their couples, Raine and Becky, Tori and Michael, Nick and Charlie, all together and happy. The only people who weren’t out there for some reason were Aled and Daniel but who knows where they were. Not like they or anyone else really wanted to be around me right now when they had a partner.

I was so lost in thought that I hardly noticed the music change to something more upbeat, but I still didn’t move from my spot against the wall next to the food table. Suddenly I noticed two figures approaching from across the hall.

“Frances, were you planning to camp out here all night, depression-snacking?” one of them said and I realised it was Aled and Daniel.

“No.” I said through a mouthful of my fifth sausage roll. Daniel didn’t say anything but gave me a look of mild judgment. “Where have you been anyway? Thought you’d be getting in an obligatory teen film slow dance?”

“Looking for you!” Aled said with a sigh.

“We thought you’d gone back to the dorms to pity-cry yourself to sleep.” Daniel remarked but Aled elbowed him.

“Come on. We know you feel like a third wheel or whatever but you deserve to enjoy yourself and have a fabulous time.”

“Do I?”

“Come on!” Aled stated emphatically. “You’re gonna come with us and you’re gonna dance to the  _ High School Musical _ soundtrack that we asked the band to play and you’re gonna have a good time with your friends who love and support you!”

I rolled my eyes but held my arms out to let them pull me across the room to where the rest of my friends were. As  _ We’re All In This Together _ started playing, I finally felt the depressing cloud that had been over my head the whole time start to dissipate. Sure, I was lonely and single but I still had my friends who loved and cared about me no matter what. Not everyone got their fairytale teenage movie moment, and maybe I never would. But at least I had all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading if you got this far! Leave a comment to let me know if you enjoyed it!


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